Italy's SpazioRock.it has issued an interview with DRAGONFORCE keyboardist Vadym Pruzanov, on the occasion of the reissue of the first two Dragonforce albums, Valley Of The Damned and Sonic Firestorm. The following is an excerpt:

Q: In my opinion, Sonic Firestorm is still your best album and 'Through The Fire And Flames', from Inhuman Rampage, is your best song. I have an unpleasant question for you. After Sonic Firestorm, Dragonforce seemed to focus more on speed than on songwriting. What do you think about that?

A: "I think it’s the way people look at it: I mean, each album tries to take a new direction, to improve, to evolve, in a certain way. In Inhuman Rampage we tried to do as much as we could and over the top. A persistent sound, you know, with all the guitar noises. In Valley Of The Damned, our first album, we tried to do what we could, catchy and punchy songs and bla bla bla. In Sonic Firestorm we brought up some other elements and in the third album Inhuman Rampage there was this will to go over the top, and we brought all of those noises and crazy stuff. And yeah, the new album Ultra Beatdown I think to us it’s the best album we’ve done so far. The songs are much more mature and melodies as well, you know, they just make sense. So we tried to find a balance between what we’ve done in our songs. For us melodies are the main driving force of the songs. On the new album we’re trying to do now, we’re trying to emphasize something, making it somehow more punchy and catchy. Before we had long epic songs, like nine minutes long and right now we’re just experimenting shorter songs, mid-tempo songs, that sort of things we haven’t done through the years. Obviously, everyone has his own opinion, 'Through The Fire And Flames' is very popular because it’s a Guitar Hero (the videogame) song and people got into it. I think every album reflects ourselves."

Read the complete interview at this location.

Spinefarm Records in the US and Canada have confirmed a February 23rd release date for the reissues of Valley Of The Damned and Sonic Firestorm. The UK release date is today, February 22nd.

Both titles will now be available with updated packaging and bonus audio/DVD content, some of it exclusive to these releases.

Formerd in 1999, Dragonforce issued their Valley Of The Damned debut in 2003 – an impressive nine-track showcase for their accomplished power metal forays. Containing a host of songs that still rank amongst the most popular of their output, the likes of ‘Black Fire’, ‘Evening Star’ and the title track itself, VOTD has now been remixed and remastered to allow every aspect of the recordings to make maximum impact.

“Fans who have heard the original mixes many times might find that the songs sound a bit different now,” observes guitarist Herman Li, “but that’s how we always wanted the original songs to sound. We just didn’t have the time back then to make everything the way we wanted.”

The studio track, ‘Where Dragons Rule’, has now been added to the audio side, and there is a bonus DVD featuring never-before-seen live footage ('Valley Of The Damned’, filmed in Japan), behind-the-scenes material (also from Japan), video commentaries, plus in-studio interviews and clips (shot in Denmark and the UK), all of it lovingly assembled by Li himself.

2004 saw the release of follow-up album, Sonic Firestorm, which gave the band the chance to hone their skills and push their fast-lane tales of fantasy to a whole new level. They were happy with Sonic at the time and remain so to this day, which is why the mixing and the mastering have been left just as they are; however, the packaging has been upgraded, an extra track added (‘Cry Of The Brave’ – a song the group felt uncomfortable taking off first time around), and – as with Valley - a bonus DVD added, this one featuring live footage from Japan (‘Fury Of The Storm’), video commentaries plus freshly recorded interviews with the band members themselves.

As a way of celebrating the recordings that effectively launched Dragonforce’s international career, both reissued albums will be included in a limited edition boxset along with exclusive band merchandise and various collectible items.